GENEVA, Switzerland, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Fear of new attacks on the civilian population is hampering distribution of humanitarian aid in the Central African Republic, a U.N. refugee group said Friday.
More than 935,000 people have been forced from their communities by fighting between Muslim Seleka fighters and an African Union peacekeeping force, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.
Access to refugee camps has been hampered by targeted attacks against civilians, looting and the presence of armed fighters in the camps, UNHCR said.
"People are hiding in the bush, fearing fresh attacks," said spokesperson Babar Baloch, speaking to reporters in Geneva.
Baloch added a "complete breakdown in law and order" was also complicating the distribution of aid.
AU troops stationed at the airport in Bangui "had not been able to secure conditions for the humanitarian agencies to do their job effectively," Baloch said.
The number of displaced people who had fled to the airport had nearly doubled from the previous week, Baloch said, bringing the number of people in camps there to 100,000.
About 513,000 Bangui residents are now in 67 camps around the capital or living with host families, the UNHCR said.
